Fwd: Ancient weapons dug up in Bharat (15-20,000 years old)

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Ancient weapons dug up in India

 

By Amitabha Bhattasali

BBC News, Kolkata

Friday, March 28, 2008

 

[Caption] Stone age weapons are not usually found

in such an old soil layer

 

Archaeologists in the eastern Indian state of West

Bengal have discovered small weapons made of stone

which are around 15,000-20,000 years old.

 

The artefacts - dating to the Stone Age - were

found during excavations in Murshidabad district,

near Bangladesh.

 

Archaeologists say the find is potentially

significant as it suggests man's presence in the

area dates back much earlier than previously

believed.

 

Finds such as this on the floodplains of the River

Ganges are very rare.

 

However, there is ample evidence of stone age

activity in India's upland regions.

 

'Raw materials'

 

The weapons - which include small axes - were

discovered at Ekani-Chandpara village near

Sagardighi, which is an ancient site.

 

[Caption] This is one of a number of pots found

at the site

 

Archaeologists say the weapons were found from a

soil layer belonging to the mid-Pleistocene period

- much below the Holocene layer where present

human habitation takes place.

 

" We have not only discovered the weapons at this

site, but raw materials and the scraps were also

found, " Dr Gautam Sengupta, director of the State

Archaeology Department, told the BBC.

 

" This proves that the weapons were made at this

place itself. "

 

Another reason why the find is so significant,

archaeologists say, is because Stone Age weapons

are not normally found at such an old soil layer

in the Gangetic alluvial plains.

 

However it is well known that raw materials for

making weapons are easily found in the plateau

region and most Stone Age discoveries are from

this area.

 

Chance

 

So far, no human fossils or remains other than

some charcoal have been found at the site.

 

Scientists have yet to confirm how old the

charcoal is.

 

[Caption] The archaeologists were surprised by

what they found

 

" The history of civilisation in this region has

suddenly gone back by around 20,000 years, " one

archaeologist said.

 

After the discovery, two eminent

geo-archaeologists - Prof SN Rajguru and Dr

Bhaskar Deotare - visited the excavation site and

confirmed that the weapons date back to the

smaller Stone Age.

 

The discovery was made by chance, Dr Sengupta

said.

 

" We were digging the site for some archaeological

evidence of the Sultanate period. We were

expecting some ancient artefacts related to Sultan

Hussein Shah, " he said -referring to a former

ruler from the area.

 

" We did find those, but our archaeologists kept on

digging to unearth some more historical evidence

of that period and now we have found these Stone

Age weapons, " Dr Sengupta said.

 

After winding up the excavation at Ekani Chandpara

in a couple of weeks, archaeologists are planning

to launch a search for ancient human habitation in

a wider area.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7315386.stm

 

Jai Maharaj, Jyotishi

Om Shanti

 

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